Exploring Lisbon

Please Share With Your Friends

Exploring Lisbon

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through a link below, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much! I only recommend products I use or believe will be something you’ll love!

When we planned a trip to the Canary Islands for a sailing class, our flights included a stop in Lisbon. Why not add some days before and after our sailing classes to explore the city!?  And taking a few days in Lisbon en route to our sailing school will also give us time if we need to adjust from jetlag before stepping onto a sailboat. It’s a plan; a couple days before and after our class will be for adventures in Lisbon.  We initially planned for five days after our sailing class to explore Lisbon.  Then due to a snowstorm in MN, we added a couple more days.  When we got the email from Delta that our flight might be canceled due to weather, we thought “would we rather be stuck in Atlanta due to a canceled flight or spend a few more days in Lisbon?”  Easy choice!

Let’s Explore Lisbon!

Our style of exploring a new place involves taking a lot of walkabouts, using public transportation, and having a flexible plan for things we might want to see or do while there.  Lisbon was an easy place to accomplish those things!   Prior to our travels, I did a little research on Lisbon and learned there are many hills and hilltop views, historic buildings, statues, museums, parks, and plenty of food options.  With Lisbon’s public transportation options, it is easy to cover to get around. 

Walkabouts and Public Transportation

Even from the very start of our time in Lisbon, we walked to get from the airport to our hotel.  Walking around and using public transport lets us see the city at a slower pace and we believe it gives a better view of the local way of life.  It’s more likely we’ll strike up a conversation with others as we’re standing waiting for a metro or to ask directions while we’re walking somewhere.  Traveling slower allows us to look around and notice the architecture, street art, cobblestone streets, types of businesses and restaurants, and people watch. 

Lisbon Public Transportation

Would you rather travel by plane, train, ferry, subway, bus, or tram?! 

On this trip, we managed to use them all!

We took a plane from Minnesota to/from Lisbon and then from Lisbon to/from Tenerife. 

To visit Sintra, we took a train.

We took the ferry across the river from Lisbon to Cacilhas.

On occasion, we hopped a tram or a bus to give our feet a little rest from walking all around while exploring different areas of Lisbon.

It seemed that if we weren’t walking, then the Metro was our primary means to get around town.  It was easy to navigate!  In many of the metro stations, we enjoyed seeing the tiled artwork on the walls.  I read that many of the stations were decorated by Maria Keil.  Her work seemed to revive enthusiasm for painted tilework.  Other artists then continued with the project and contributed their style and creativity to Lisbon’s metro stations.  We didn’t need to visit an art gallery, we just rode the metro! 

Museums

There’s no shortage of museums to visit in Lisbon.  We chose to visit three.

Oceanarium de Lisboa

Lisbon’s aquarium, was impressive!  The Lisbon aquarium houses over 8,000 species of marine life.  The exhibits cover aquatic life and facts from all of the oceans and also river life. 

We’ve never seen a leafy sea dragon before.  Or have we? It camouflages so well with seaweed.

Maritime Museum

The Maritime Museum was much bigger inside than we imagined from the outside.  We found the displays and informative plaques very interesting and the model ships are always fun to see.  Near the end of the museum, they even had full-size historic boats on display. 

The royal barge surely was fit for a queen!  “On board were 78 paddlers with 40 oars, which made the barge glide through the water with the help of the boss and the bow oarsman.”

Fado Music Museum

Fado Music is part of Portuguese culture and although we didn’t attend a Fado show, we visited the Fado Museum to learn more about this genre.  They had displays programmed to our individual audio sets so we could sample various Fado singers throughout history.  Tony especially liked the displays showing how instruments are made.  

Lisbon Foods

Of course, part of exploring a new place is eating the local food.  Lisbon is known for a custard tart called pastel de nata.  We saw bakeries making and selling them on almost every block.  They are a small treat but there’s no way to eat just one!  Sitting at an outdoor café with a couple pastel de nata’s and a cup of coffee…a great way to relax and enjoy Lisbon! 

For eating a meal out, we try to find local restaurants rather than touristy ones.  During one of our many walkabouts, we stopped at a small restaurant on a side street.  What a surprise!  Our dinner was delicious and the presentation was fancy.   In talking with the waiter, we learned that they help new immigrants by teaching them to cook so they can gain employment as they settle into their new country.  It was nice to hear they not only offer fine dining at a reasonable price for customers like us, but they also provide a helpful service to the community.    

Another day while wandering around Lisbon, we lingered outside a restaurant trying to decipher the Portuguese menu options to decide if we wanted to eat there.  The owner came out and asked what language we speak and proceeded to explain the menu options in English.  Then he more or less ushered us inside.  When it was time to order our food, Tony asked for barbeque chicken, one of the options the owner had suggested.  “No, no, no!” he replied, “you want the special of the day!”  Tony agreed and wondered what he was going to be served.  Fortunately, it was a meal he liked; meat and potatoes with beef gravy.  

If we weren’t in the mood for a sit-down meal, we could always head to the food court called Time Out.  First, we walked down a quiet hallway with fresh produce and flower stands on either side and thought to ourselves “how relaxing”. ..Until we turned a corner and entered the food hall!  The food hall was bustling with people and activity with long lines to order a meal.  At one end of the big room, we saw chef’s names above the food stands.  What a great idea to be able to sample a certain chef’s specials in a casual, food court atmosphere! 

Hotels

In our hotels in Lisbon, the continental breakfast was quite a spread.  It not only had what we might expect for breakfast such as eggs, pastries, yogurt, and fruits, but also some salad fixings and bread, meats, and cheeses.  The freshly squeezed juice was delicious and always a treat! 

Hotel Art

Turtles have meaning for us and so it brought a big smile to us to see wall art of a colorful turtle outside one of our hotel windows. When we moved hotels, our next hotel room had turtle art hanging above our bed. Sweet!

Souvenirs

Lisbon is known for sardines.  They were on every restaurant blackboard “grilled sardines”.  In all the shops there are sardine-printed souvenirs.  For a  souvenir for our family, we decided to buy canned sardines from a traditional, family-run store, Conserveira De Lisboa.  It was an unconventional gift for our family, but we enjoyed the smiles and giggles when they received it. A few of the grandchildren really enjoyed eating them while other family members are using the can as a conversation piece in their kitchen.

Day Trips From Lisbon

Sintra

We went to Sintra to see the fairytale-like city with castles, palaces, and lush gardens.  It did not disappoint!  We walked through a beautiful garden park, up steps and hills, up more steps and hills, around the Moorish castle, and finally up the steps to the lookout.  The view was worth all the effort!

Cacilhas

When we were at the Maritime Museum, we read that the ship Frigate D. Fernando II E Gloria was available to tour in Cacilhas.  That will be fun to see!  To get there, we took a ferry across the river Tagus.  Not long after we left the dock, I noticed tourists opening their windows and taking pictures and videos of Lisbon from our vantage point on the water.  I followed their lead.  It was an excellent viewpoint of the city and the bridge, and as we neared Cacilhas we saw the huge statue of Cristo Rei. 

First, we headed to the ship and took a walk back in time, it was very interesting!  We enjoy seeing and learning about maritime history. 

Then, we took a walkabout town.  Many visitors come to Cacilhas for the seafood restaurants and the owners stand ready on the streets trying to entice you to eat there.   We opted to get off the main street and headed towards more of a residential area.  We walked up, up, and up (more hills) and towards the water whenever we had the chance.  Eventually, we arrived at a high point overlooking the river.  It was an extremely windy day.   Do you like my hair-do?  On our way back to the ferry, we enjoyed the street art along the waterfront. 

Travel Items

We purchased some specific travel items for this trip and were very happy with how well they worked out for us.

We were a bit concerned about the long flight to Europe and how we would handle jet lag. At the recommendation of a family member, we tried “No jet lag” homeopathic.  When we arrived, we felt better than we expected and adjusted fairly easily to the time change so we assume this homeopathic was helpful.

For our luggage, we wanted a duffel bag with no wheels and something easy to store when not in use since we were going on a sailboat.  Because we would be lugging our duffel bags around the airport, on public transportation, and walking around town I searched for something I could put on my back like a backpack.  So when I found the Osprey Porter combination duffel bag/backpacks, Tony was strangely excited to use them.  He dislikes packing so to see him happy about our luggage was a win! You can carry it like a duffel bag or on your back as a backpack (it reminded me of carrying a Duluth pack in the BWCA).  They have straps that help compress your packing down to a smaller size.  All in all, they worked great for us.  We’re ready to fill them up for our next adventure!

Prior to our trip, we both went shopping for outdoor, quick dry clothing so we could do some hand washing as needed and thereby pack fewer clothes.  These laundry sheets, cut into quarters to wash a couple of items in the sink, worked great! 

Speaking of staying clean, we also purchased a “new to us” brand of shampoo and conditioner bars. We use shampoo bars when sailing and thought it was a great option for traveling to keep our liquids to a minimum for carry on luggage limit. Ethique sample size bars were perfect for this trip!

Flight Home Story

If you read my previous blog on our trip to the Canary Islands, you may remember when I opened my water bottle (with a straw), I had a little water spout onto the seat in front of me. 

Now on our flight home after exploring Lisbon, I remembered my lesson about water bottle straws while flying.  So this time when I was thirsty, I put my hand over the top and started to unscrew the lid to let the pressure out that way.  Too bad my thumb hit the button!  Fortunately, the straw was facing us and not the neighboring seats.  More specifically, it was facing Tony.  He got plenty wet but took it in good stride.  His reply was; “Good thing I’m wearing my special quick-dry clothing!”

Once we arrived home, I googled ‘water bottle with straw on a plane’ and found this:

“Be careful opening straw water bottles on an airplane.  Since they’re filled at ground level, the pressure difference will cause water to shoot out the straw when you flip it open, getting you or your neighbor wet. You’ll want to unscrew the lid first to depressurize it. If the water bottle has a lock for the straw as well, you may want to use it so you don’t accidentally forget.” 

On future flights, I’m planning to leave my water bottle with straw at home.

Please Share With Your Friends